Pocket Novel Progress

What an amazing summer we've had. I know, I know. It's been TOO hot. But usually we are all moaning about it being cold and rainy. We had a good downpour last night, which was long overdue.

I hope you are well and enjoying the book you're reading, the series and movies you are watching and, if you write, whatever you are writing. Season 4 of Ted Lasso has just dropped so I, and many others, are extremely excited about that! I have so much on my 'to be read' and 'to be watched' list, as well as my cinema trips at least once a week, I need a parallel life to fit it in with the 'normal' stuff that we all have to do.

The new The People's Friend Annual 2027 is published on 10th August and I have seen on Amazon that I have two stories in it this year. I was only expecting one so that was a great surprise. Both titles have been changed and I am guessing the first one is my Easter tale, but I can't work out what the second one is about from their title. Only a few days and I'll find out, I guess...

I've been ploughing on with what I hope is my next pocket novel, set in 1933, involving a romance and a small mystery. I reached the halfway point just before I went on holiday on July 11th and so I decided to edit that first half when I came back, before continuing the second half of the story. I now have two pages left to edit and then I can progress. It's a nice thought, to have already sorted out half of it. At least I will only have to deep-edit the last part when I've finished. Of course, the whole thing will need a proofread, and there will undoubtedly be the odd thing to change, but the sentences have been tidied and meanings clarified. Yay!

I've just finished reading a book by a very talented friend, Eirin Thompson. If you like suspense, you'll love 'I Know I Saw Her'. I'd have read it in a sitting if I hadn't had so many other things to do. It was gripping and I am really looking forward to reading another of her novels 'Closing In'. 

In the meantime, I'm listening to book 5 in James Runcie's Granchester series.

 It is very concerning because I am near the end and then there is only one more left to read. This is not good news and makes me not want to even start book 6 because then the only option is to start all over again, or feel bereft.

I'm in the log cabin with Leia and it's getting pretty chilly now. Despite the heatwave that is barely over, there's a definite autumnal feel to most evenings now. I will say goodbye and we will go inside. She has noticed something in one of the fields that has drawn her attention.

PS The fields behind us are not supposed to look golden in the late evening sunshine, but they do. 

A busy month

 Hi all,

I hope this find you well and able to enjoy the lovely summer weather (when it's not burning our butts off😬). I love the long evenings sooooo much, but can't believe that the longest day has already passed.

I'm off on a week's cruise to Norway soon, with eldest daughter and grandsons, which is a first! Very exciting! Usually, on board, I get quite a lot of writing done during seadays, but this is going to be a very different holiday. I am in turmoil, trying to decide whether or not I can actually leave my laptop at home. Mostly I want to leave it due to having to carry it in my rucksack back to the car park (20 mins walk from port) and I am also thinking that it may enable me to just chill with a book without feeling guilty. The big issue is, I am 15,000 + words into my next novel (working title 'The Art of Romance') and losing momentum is massive for me. If I miss a day or two, I tend to think that the story is total garbage and not worth continuing with. I will have to find a way to ensure I pick up where I left off when I get back...

On Wednesday, a story I wrote a couple of years ago, inspired by a trip to Selsey to see my sister, came out in The People's Friend Special. I do hope that my, and my colleagues', days as a short-fiction writer aren't numbered. One of the major magazine publishers (not DC Thomson, who I write for) has turned to using AI for some of their stories. Really bad news, and it is the reason why The Society of Authors is fighting so hard to limit AI powers and stop it from stealing our work. This happens constantly, of course. It will be interesting to see what readers think of the change.

In addition, the Linford Romance Large Print edition of 'A Match Made in Heaven' went into libraries on 30th June 2026, so if you fancy a read for free, you know where to find it. If it's not in your local branch, you can order it in.

Alongside this, I was thrilled that Ulverscroft have now also taken on 'All The King's Horses' for large print. I think they said that it would come out early in the New Year.

I haven't entered a writing competition for a long time (lack of time, more than any other reason), but I did enter one to help raise money for the Cats Protection earlier in the year. It didn't get anywhere so, rather than waste it, I thought I'd do some work on it. It wasn't light-years away from a PF-style story which meant that there wasn't too much to do and I submitted it last week. I'll have a long wait for an answer as the story is set in late September. Too late to be considered for publication this year but the bonus is that I may hear something next year. Fingers crossed. I've waited up to four years in the past for a sale on a story. No problem with that. Just forget it and knock out the next one.

I'm about to sign off but I thought I'd linked my Goodreads book reviews to this blog. I will fiddle around and see if I can add it to the sidebar.

Have an amazing summer, happy reading and here's a thought to end with from the writer of what I consider the greatest book on writing (On Writing) ever written...

"When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done." 

- Stephen King

Julie.

Life's Short

 Hi all,

I hope you are enjoying the warmer weather (well, it WAS, but today is a bit nippy!). I've just got home from Pilates. Every week I think urrrrghh but come out feeling a hundred times better than when I went in. I do have chronic trochanteric bursitis though and we did a LOT of hip work today, so the next few nights are going to be interesting trying to sleep. Hey ho. It's worth it.

My news is that I have finally got my website up and running. That has been some process, I can tell you. I went from the idea of creating a website being like trying to read a Greek manuscript, to actually doing it, including adjusting the mobile option, which I didn't know you could do. If you fancy taking a look, it would make the effort worthwhile. You can find it at juliegoodall.co.uk.

Life has been a bit all over the place recently with some awful family news. I am trying to keep on track a bit, even if not quite as productively as I might be, but there are things that are far more important. I have to confess to feeling pretty useless. It puts everything into perspective and the emotions are pretty sharp.

So, I will move onto things that I CAN control (or things I THINK I can control...). As I said, I've mostly been working on my website, but also doing a lot of admin stuff, plus I sent in a short story to The People's Friend recently. Last week, 'Bundles of Joy' came out and I had a lovely email saying how much it had taken this person back to her time in hospital giving birth decades ago. There was a specific memory that it prompted and I felt very privileged to hear it.

That has got to be the best thing about writing.

I am also still rewriting 'Secret Santa' and am nearly 4/5 of the way through so I am getting there very slowly. I am rewriting pretty much every sentence so it is infinitely slower than when I first wrote it. There are also a few tweaks I want to make along the way but, again, I will get there eventually. I have three novels plotted out so I have to decide what to work on next. The cowboy/horsey ones or the clergy/mystery set in 1932? I don't know. I don't think I will go back to my gothic novel yet as that is a huge undertaking and I think I need to do something fresh first before revisiting something I started. I'm 88,000 words into that.

As I've been writing this, I've had some welcome good news. Our closest friends' son and his partner became parents this morning! That is indeed something to celebrate. Looks like a trip to Suffolk is on the cards...😊 

Finally, as Steven Pressfield said, whatever you want to do: "Start before you’re ready."

I don't think we ever feel ready for anything much so, whatever you fancy doing, dive right in and do it. We all know that life is too short to delay.

Enjoy!

Julie x

Bodies, mysteries and space

A big hello to everyone! I am back on dry land after a wonderful thirteen nights away to warmer climes (well, for the first five days or so). There were a lot of sea days so I managed to get 72 pages of Secret Santa rewritten. I'm now over halfway so I WILL get there eventually. There is always something that crops up and gets in the way, but I will plough on regardless. I desperately want to upload it to Amazon to replace the first edition, which was a big rush job and basically a first draft. I have been deleting whole paragraphs all over the place. I think it will end up a bit shorter! lol

I read two books on holiday and two thirds of another one. First of all...

Miss Blaine's Prefect is by Olga Wojtas, a woman I studied alongside for a couple of modules when I did my OU degree. She is an incredibly talented writer and extremely smart! This definitely comes across in her writing, as does her humour. It is hard to categorise this novel into a specific genre. It is a mystery/time-hop/gentle comedy, and so much more. There are four in the series so far, so if you love it, it doesn't have to stop there! https://amzn.eu/d/0bFK1oFf

I bought A Body at the Altar because I fancied reading a light cozy crime/mystery. Again, I had no idea how much I would enjoy this. It was a nice, easy, light read, and a great plot. It is also part of a series (7 books, I think). This was book 4 so I've bought Book 1 for when I fancy reading another one. https://amzn.eu/d/0dLixh9j

I'm sure you can guess why I ordered this! Jon read it too and finished it before I did, but then I did read the other two books at the same time (This one was on Audible so I listened when walking around the ship or out on deck.) I was a bit unsure about it in some ways as I'm not a huge sci-fi fan. There is also a lot of science and maths in it, but Andy Weir writes in such a way as to make it fascinating. He is quite obviously a total genius. It was narrated by Ray Porter. Suffice to say I will look out other books that he has narrated. https://amzn.eu/d/0dVBTqpl And, yes, the movie was brilliant. I had no idea how they had managed to adapt it to screen but they did an incredible job.

On the home front, I sold a story last week and sent in two new ones. I also sent in two Christmas stories just before I went on holiday, so fingers crossed. One story went straight through to the main fiction editor which doesn't often happen that quickly. Encouraging!

I'm still rewriting Secret Santa (it's taking SO long) but yesterday I sent A Match Made in Heaven to Spotify to be considered for their audible books. I will do the same for All The King's Horses and Sandy Stables. It seems they expect the writers to have a website so that has given me the impetus to finish the one I started setting up a couple of months ago. It is not my forte so a bit overwhelming.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying the start of the longer evenings. Please do comment your thoughts if you feel so inclined.

Today's thought...

'Civilization begins when everyone eats. Democracy begins when everyone reads.'

Willy Thorn

'Books are a uniquely portable magic'

 I've been having a lovely time recently reading Margret Geraghty's serial 'Mending Fences' in recent The People's Friend weekly magazine. It's horse-themed so right up my street and I love her writing. You can get subscription offers on Readly to get back issues of so many magazines (no, I'm not sponsored, lol - I do use Readly, and I have a printed subscription of TPF as well). Highly recommended. You can also read the People's Friend Pocket Novels on Readly. I think they include some newspapers now, too.

Also, if you are a budding writer, or even a seasoned one who fancies some inspiration, Margret has written a couple of books called 'The Five-Minute Writer' and 'More Five-Minute Writing'. You'll never be lost for inspiration again. See link Amazon.com: Margret Geraghty: books, biography, latest update

I've also been reading 'Lost in the Outback' by Alan C Williams. It's great to be lost Down Under and get away from reality. Even better to learn that he has just had a serial published so it won't be over when it's over! Amazon.co.uk: Alan C. Williams: books, biography, latest update

It's been hard to concentrate lately as I'm sure everyone has been finding. It would be possible to scroll through the news reels all day and I'm having to make sure I stay on track with other input and output! At the moment, we're watching Season 2 of The Night Manager.  It took longer than the first season to draw us in, but now that we have reached and watched episode 4, it has gripped us.  I also discovered, by accident, that I somehow hadn't watched the final episode of this season's Call The Midwife so I still have that to look forward to. I can't wait, although I have a strong suspicion that it I am going to need a whole box of tissues. On a normal episode, I probably get through two or three (tissues, not boxes😀).

I'm still ploughing through the edit/rewrite of the stories for my book Kaleidoscope. It is taking longer than I had anticipated, but everything seems to so I guess I just generally underestimate everything in life.

I'm also still fiddling about trying to decide on a website builder. Might get that done before 2027...

I hope you are enjoying everything you are reading, writing or watching. 

• “Books are a uniquely portable magic.” — Stephen King

So true! And now, with ebooks, they are more portable than ever. 

Imagine life without books 😧

 

Two paperbacks out now

 Hi to all my fellow readers and writers out there. Today I really felt as if Spring is on its way. The sun was out and at times it was actually warm. It certainly lifts the spirits.

It feels like I have been working on preparing my two books for publication for months, but I have certainly learned a lot and will be much wiser next time around. I am now working on a book of short stories, which will also contained 'Sandy Stables', which was a serial and is now a short novella. In the meantime, A Match Made in Heaven and All The King's Horses are now on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited and about to be on Amazon in paperback any day now. If you read them, I hope you enjoy them.

All The King's Horses eBook : Goodall, Julie: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

A Match Made In Heaven eBook : Goodall, Julie: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

The links will also lead to the paperbacks.

I was happy to have a Valentine's Day story out in the People's Friend weekly on 14th Feb.  It was nice to be in the weekly as I seem to have had most of my stories in the Specials for ages. It will be due to the length of the stories, which has made me realise which length stories I must automatically prefer writing!

For a while, I've been making notes and mulling over an idea for another novel - possibly a pocket novel for The People's Friend. Two nights ago, very inconveniently, I woke up suddenly at 5am with the first few lines of the novel in my head and a whole first scene. This never happens that way so of course I had to get my phone and write it down in notes. Then I just kept writing the whole scene and one and a half hours later I had to put the phone down and pick up my kindle to try and calm my brain down. However, I can't really do anything else with it just yet as I'm editing/rewriting short stories to put in my books of short stories.

Ruth and I went to see 'Crime 101' this evening. It was excellent and we both really liked the ending. Mark Ruffalo was in it - one of my favourite actors. And Chris Hemsworth. A lot of well-known actors actually.

It's getting late and I need to start thinking about creating a website, but maybe not tonight as I've just seen it's 11.29pm (eek).

Night everyone. Happy reading, whatever you're reading right now. Sleep well.

A Match Made in Heaven on Amazon Kindle/Kindle Unlimited

 Hi everyone. I hope you are all doing well, despite the world around us going somewhat downhill.

It seems to me the perfect time to lose ourselves in books. I am reading a writer friend's book right now, which is set in Australia. It's by Jill Barry, who is very prolific. Wonderful to escape down under😍

Today's fabulous news is that 'A Match Made in Heaven' is now available on Amazon Kindle (£2.49) and Kindle Unlimited under the publisher Rywood Books. I'm obviously thrilled.

Some more good news is that I signed with Ulverscroft last week, so 'A Match...' will also be in libraries in large print format on July 1st 2026. This will be the Pocket Novel version that came out under the publisher D C Thomson.

I'll update when it is available in paperback on Amazon too.

I have a Valentine's Day story in The People's Friend weekly magazine next week and will add that when it's out. In the meantime, I'm really looking forward to seeing 'Wuthering Heights' at the cinema next week. I saw 'Is This Thing On?' on Tuesday...the movie based on John Bishop's marriage...which was excellent. Surprising that they didn't use 'John' as the main character but used a fictional character instead, but perhaps the American audience isn't that aware of him?

Bearing in mind all the happenings across the pond, I decided to have a bash at listening to the 'The Handmaids Tale' on audiobook. I only started it today on a dog walk so it'll be a while before I get through the first book. This was initiated by listening to Margaret Atwood on Desert Island Discs.

A week ago, I was down The Bull in Ilchester listening to Grey Wolves, a local(ish) band. They did a set in our garden for my 60th birthday party in the summer and were amazing. It was a great night and I got home very late/early😬.

I hope you are all OK out there. Let me know any book recommendations in the comments. I love hearing what people are reading.